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Entry requirements: The equivalent of English B and a Bachelor's degree including a minimum of 90 credits in Environmental Science, Bioscience, Political Science, Sociology, International Health, Media and Communication Studies, or the equivalent.

Selection: On the basis of previous university credits. Between 30 and 285 credits may be taken into account.

Sustainability, Civil Society and Transnational Governance

Course 7.5 credits

The aim of this course is to enable students to analyse and discuss the challenges of sustainable development in relation to transnational governance. Such governance occurs beyond the nation-state level, where state and non-state actors interact in complex ways. Various globalisation tendencies - ecological, economic, cultural and technological - generate pressure for the renewal of regulation and management. Accordingly, examples of new types of regulation and management are examined during the course. Furthermore, students learn how to apply and elaborate on concepts such as global civil society, private authorities and social movements in relation to literature on transnational governance. The course also elaborates on the consequences and challenges resulting from transnational and multi-level governance. Such topics include problems of legitimacy, accountability and representation. The notion of democratic deficits relates to such problems. Finally, the tension between sustainable development, including a participatory and deliberative orientation to governance, and ecological modernisation, including a more technocratic view of governance, are highlighted.

The information below comes from the syllabus and is valid from: spring semester 2015

Course design

This course primarily builds on compulsory seminars and introductory lectures. The seminars are primarily designed to assist students in the study of the course literature.

Absence from seminars must be compensated for with supplementary assignments. Absence from more than 50% of the seminars requires that the student take the course again. Supplementary tasks must be handed in within one year of course completion.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student is able to:

problematise core concepts in the research field of transnational governance.

analyse environmental issues by using overarching concepts such as governance, civil society, globalisation and sustainable development

apply core theoretical concepts in the research field of sustainability, civil society and transnational governance to analyse challenges to effective and legitimate governance linked to various environmental issues

critically review, present and discuss theories and literature within the research fields of sustainability, civil society and transnational governance

analyse governance implications in relation to the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainable development.

Examination

The course is examined by:

Written assignments

Seminars

Oral presentations

Absence from compulsory seminars can, after consultation with the course coordinator, be compensated for with supplementary assignments. Absence from more than 50% of the seminars requires that the student take the course again. Supplementary tasks must be handed in within one year of course completion.